Carl W. Kenney II is an award winning columnist and novelist. He is committed to engaging readers into a meaningful discussion related to matters that impact faith and society. He grapples with pondering the impact faith has on public space while seeking to understand how public space both hinders and enhances the walk of faith.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

To Hell with civil rights.Gay and women’s rights can take the same
trip.The unemployed can pack their bags
and jump on the wagon.North Carolina is
home of conservative white dudes who have no compassion for most of the
citizens of the state they are elected to serve.

North Carolinian’s are screaming.It doesn’t matter.They’re not listening.

Thousands have showed up for Moral Monday’s to show
their disdain over the passage of laws aimed at making life worse for normal
people. Hundreds have been arrested.Protestors
represent a diverse group of discontent citizens.None of it matters.Republican legislators are on a mission to
prove their power.

When will it end, and what damage will remain after
North Carolina voters send a few legislators into retirement. What is the point
behind it all? Is it about asserting power over the weak, or do they believe in
the pain they peddle like juice in a bottle sold by a medicine man?

The most recent addition of “we don’t care about you,”
is a measure placing tougher restrictions on abortions. The state Senate passed
the second reading of the bill on Tuesday by 27-14; a final vote today will
send it back to the House for approval.

The bill will require abortion clinics to meet the
same standards as ambulatory surgery centers and will force the closure of all
but one clinic in the state.It will
place limits on health care coverage for abortions and require doctors to be
present when women take the drug that induces abortions.

Critics of the bill point to the scheming that led to
Tuesday’s vote. It was presented unexpectedly during a rare late-day committee
meeting.It combines numerous bills in
different stages into one bill. At 5:30
p.m., the measure on the committee’s calendar reflected a bill on the family
law provision of the bill.Critics
argued the bill could interfere with U.S. law in foreign courts.

The committee quickly jumped on an amendment to the
bill that dealt with abortion.

“It seems to me that they’re trying to pass under
cover of darkness legislation that would not otherwise be passed,” Suzanne
Buckley, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, told the
Huffington Post.They’re trying to pull
a Texas.”

State Republicans have embraced the Charlie Sheen
philosophy of life- WINNING.It’s about
winning at all cost. Change the state constitution, rob people of their voting
rights, deny the role race plays in determining guilt in court cases,
shortchange people money the federal government has approved, refute a woman’s
right to decide related to her body – do whatever it takes to win.

This isn’t state politics.It’s a game.Citizens are pawns maneuvered like board game pieces to prove Republican
dominance.The people aren’t heard.They keep screaming, but Republicans keep playing
games reminiscent of Niccolò Machiavelli who made deception an art.

They’ve redefined “we the people”.Democracy and independence is revamped into
the image of white dominance.Community
is reconstituted as the forced moral agenda of a few.The American Dream is relegated and defined
by the voice of those with the power to manipulate those weakened by
indifference.

Blame is used to confuse. Hatred hides the truth.Winning divides.Winning denounces the credibility of
compromise.Winning doesn’t care about
the other side.

It just wants to win.

The abortion bill is an example of the mindset behind
the closed ears in Raleigh.They will do
whatever it takes to win.

The people keep screaming, but it’s hard to win when
the other team uses dirty tricks.

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Carl W. Kenney II

Carl was named the best serious columnist of 2011 by the North Carolina Press Association for his work with the News & Observer's community paper The Durham News and in 2016 by the Missouri Press Association for his columns in the Columbia Missourian. He is a columnist with the News & Observer and Co-Executive Producer of "God of the Oppressed" an upcoming documentary film on black liberation theology. He is a former Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri - School of Journalism and Adjunct Instructor at Duke University, the Center for Documentary Studies. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He furthered his education at Duke University and attained a Master of Divinity. He was named a Fellow in Pastoral Leadership Development at the Princeton Theological Seminary on May 14, 2005. He is a freelance writer with his commentary appearing in The Washington Post, Religious News Services,The Independent Weekly and The Durham Herald-Sun. Carl is the author of two novels: “Preacha’ Man” and the sequel “Backslide”.
He has led congregations in Missouri and North Carolina